


Step by Step

by KakumeiNoHi



Series: The Stories of Winter and her Partner [12]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Atlas Academy, Canon Universe, F/F, RWBY - Freeform, a bit of anxiousness but mostly softness :), atlas academy headcanons, rwby canon universe, rwby fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27748081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KakumeiNoHi/pseuds/KakumeiNoHi
Summary: Winter had received a message from her partner asking her to come to their room.Her partner usually wasn’t the type to send messages asking for her to come and meet her somewhere.‘Pragmatism’ asCassiecalled it or ‘laziness’ asWintercalled it, had her simply use her semblance most of the time to materialize somewhere close to Winter whenever she needed something from her.Or she would just come and quickly get her whenever they needed to be somewhere together.Cassie also usually didn’t care much about whoever she would give a heart attack by simply appearing out of nowhere.And so curious as to why her partner had specifically asked her to come and meet her, Winter had quickly packed up her things in the library and started to walk back to their shared room.When she entered the room her partner had been sitting on the lower bunk with her knees up against her chest and her face burrowed on top of them.
Relationships: Winter Schnee/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Stories of Winter and her Partner [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914799
Kudos: 15





	Step by Step

Winter had received a message from her partner asking her to come to their room.

Her partner usually wasn’t the type to send messages asking for her to come and meet her somewhere.  
‘Pragmatism’ as _Cassie_ called it or ‘laziness’ as _Winter_ called it, had her simply use her semblance most of the time to materialize somewhere close to Winter whenever she needed something from her. Or she would just come and quickly get her whenever they needed to be somewhere together.

Cassie also usually didn’t care much about whoever she would give a heart attack by simply appearing out of nowhere.

And so curious as to why her partner had specifically asked her to come and meet her, Winter had quickly packed up her things in the library and started to walk back to their shared room.

When she entered the room her partner had been sitting on the lower bunk with her knees up against her chest and her face burrowed on top of them.

She flinched vehemently when she noticed Winter as she closed the door behind her. Why was she this high-strung? Did something happen?

“Winter!”

Cassie also seemed surprised to see her for some reason and she lowered her feet to properly sit on the edge of the bed.

Winter was still baffled by her extreme reaction a few seconds ago. But also... wasn’t it her partner who called her here to begin with?

“You send a message?”

“Right...I just didn’t think…” _that you’d come?_ Winter felt a sting in her chest and lowered her head.

She had thought that her partner knew how she wished to support her whenever she needed anything and trusted in her.

“...that you’d see it this soon. As soon as I send it I remembered you said you’d be in the library...I thought you might have your scroll on mute...”

Winter raised her head to look at her partner who was staring at the floor and lowered it again immediately. She felt guilty for having doubted her.

“Winter, can you come closer for a bit?“

Winter had barely reached her partner when she timidly put her hands around her waist. She was confused about how shy Cassie was being considering how she usually wasn’t too afraid of touching her.

She continued to step closer and her partner’s head dropped onto her stomach and her arms moved completely around her.

“Can I just stay like this for a few moments?” her voice was weak.

“O-of course.”

While she didn’t particularly mind Winter was still baffled by her partner’s behavior.

She knew that Cassie wasn’t always happy-go-lucky, her nightmares alone had suggested that even before she knew about what had happened to her partner when she was younger.

But she never knew that she would have downs like this during the days. It was the first time she saw her like this and Winter felt like she might have maybe been hiding this from her all this time, just like she had never mentioned her nightmares on her own.

“A-are you alright?”

Winter still had her hands raised, confused about what to do and where to put them in a situation like this.

“I’m...just feeling a little...overwhelmed. Sorry.”

She nuzzled her head deeper against Winter.

“I see…” _Maybe it would be okay to…_

Slowly and carefully Winter put one of her hands on top of her partner’s head. She was barely touching her however, testing, making sure this was the right thing to do.

Her partner was feeling anxious and seeing her like this hurt. But her heart also skipped a little knowing that Cassie truly felt safe enough with her to not only opened up a little bit more about it, but also directly ask her for comfort.

She felt Cassie’s thumb rub against her back and Winter almost flinched.

She had thought that she had already gotten used to her partner’s touch. But it seemed like ever since she had come back from the manor, broken down and since started to be more honest to herself about her feelings for her partner, Winter had actually been even more sensitive to her than ever before.

Nonetheless Winter interpreted Cassie’s small gesture as an okay and she started to softly pat her partner’s head. She started to draw small circles at the base of her ears and gently scratching their back.

Surely enough her partner started to relax a little into her arms. Eventually Winter removed Cassie’s hair tie and with both of her hands started massaging her ears and temples and gently running her fingers through her hair.  
She was feeling a little shy about what she was doing but her partner seemed to enjoy her ministrations, just like she had once before and Winter started to slowly become more confident.

A few moments passed and Winter heard her partner take a breath and sigh deeply as she propped herself up a little.

Winter dropped her hands to Cassie’s shoulders. And with her hands folded on Winter’s lower back her partner was still holding her even though she was no longer leaning into her.

“I...feel a lot better now….thanks...” her voice was timid.

“I-it’s alright, you can call me anytime. Are...are you sure you’re okay?”

While she was glad that her partner was feeling better, Winter also felt a little disappointed at how she had to let go of her now. Admitting that out loud however would make her look selfish.

“Yes...but...I’m just really tired now.”

“Then you better lie down and rest for a bit. You’ll only get overwhelmed even more easily if you keep being tired.”

Winter knew from her own experience that lack of sleep, while it certainly wasn’t the main cause, was usually either a trigger or a result of anxiety.  
And her partner was already prone to being overwhelmed by the very nature of her aura sensing ability.

“You’re right, I guess.” Cassie sighed.

“But...I want to hold you for a bit longer.“ Her partner blushed a little. “Can you rest with me?”

“ _Now_ you decide to be all shy about napping together?”

Winter chuckled, playfully teasing her partner a little. Cassie in response looked to the side to pout.

Winter’s voice soften. “I mean, don’t we do this all the time?”

Her partner perked up again.

“Move over.” She nudged Cassie.

She let go off her partner who fully climbed into the bed. Winter quickly took her boots off and followed.

Her partner was already waiting for her and raised one arm slightly, waiting for her to move closer and underneath.

Winter slowed down a little. It’s not like she didn’t want Cassie’s arm around her and cuddle like they always would.  
But now that it was offered to her this openly _she_ was the one getting a little shy about it. And so to hide her blush, Winter turned her head to side a little.

“You don’t want to?”

“I...want to...”

It was okay for her to accept and want some affection and it would have been okay for her to even ask for this herself. Winter reminded herself of what her partner had told her.

She mustered up her courage and rather than turning her back towards her partner and leaning into her, she lay down facing her and snuggled close enough to put her own arm around her, even her hand on her head.

Slowly but surely she wanted to keep returning the affection she received from her partner. Maybe she could even slowly get her feelings across like this until she had found the right words and moment to actually _tell_ her about them.

And while Cassie seemed to be surprised at first, she only giggled a little and pulled her closer as Winter started to immediately feel warmer.

“Winter?”

“Y-yes?” Winter was a little flustered but she no longer minded.

“Thanks again.”

Her partner happily snuggled against her collarbone and Winter once more started to run her fingers through her soft hair and over her ears. She felt a little bold and with her thumb she also drew soft circles on her partner’s cheek and jawline and she started to feel and hear a short faint rumbling sound from her.

She had almost expected her partner to jolt up again and try to hide it like she had before, but she didn’t. And while Winter could feel her partner tense up a little, she had still remained close to her.

Winter blushed but continued. She had never doubted that her partner was fond of her. But when she was in her arms like this Winter couldn’t help but think, or maybe just hope, that her partner might like her a little more than she had initially let on or maybe Winter just hadn’t noticed before.

But right now somewhere in her heart Winter felt like Cassie might just be feeling the same way she is feeling. So if she was to tell her partner that she had fallen in love with her, would she reciprocate?

Maybe all of this was just her wishful thinking.

Either way, for now she was already happy with what they had at the moment and she wasn’t even sure if she could handle anything more romantic than something like this yet. Her heart was still a bit too sensitive from having already been bared about a different matter for that.

Still Winter was determined to keep moving towards her partner and steel herself until she was sure that she could handle either outcome of her confession.

**Author's Note:**

> Know that the confession story is already written ( ￣ー￣)φ__ 
> 
> But there'll still be one more story and the Apart: C-Side one in between (*¯︶¯*)


End file.
